As I sit down to write a testimonial for Amber, one month after the birth of our beautiful daughter, I find myself searching the memory banks to recall a passage from the Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu scripture) that I heard in a yoga class earlier this year. The exact words escape me so I shall paraphrase as follows, "The highest good that one can achieve is to do the work that comes naturally." Amber is the living embodiment of this ideal. She was born to help bring babies into the world.
As my wife's pregnancy progressed and we started to think about the preferred birthing experience for our first child, it became clear that we wanted to find a doula to assist us with the process. We asked friends and colleagues for recommendations and wound up at a Meet-the-Doulas event at Natural Resources where we met a number of warm, professional, experienced women who could have filled the role capably. We were drawn to Amber from among the large group for a number of reasons: she has an incredibly calm presence, a wealth of experience delivering babies in all sorts of circumstances, and a strong background as a ballet dancer and body-worker that has given her great insight into the mechanics of the female body.
Ultimately, what we found in Amber was not an assistant but a partner in the truest sense of the word. She became the crucial third member of our team, and in our pre-partum meetings her presence put us at ease as she helped to educate us about our choices and to plan for the birth. In all of our interactions it felt as if we were dealing with an old friend that we had known all of our lives, a friend that was meant to be there for us at this important stage in our journey.
When my wife finally went into labor, ten days after her due date, Amber was there for us at every moment of the nearly 40-hour process. From our initial phone calls in the middle of the night to answer our questions and assuage our concerns as labor began, to lovingly holding our just-born baby girl, Amber was the consummate caring, compassionate professional every step of the way.
While my wife labored at home Amber was there to help her with positioning, to offer hands-on bodywork, to draw a bath and pour warm water over her as she sat in the tub, to make a smoothie, and seemingly to do anything that either of us could have wanted.
Once we arrived at the hospital Amber proved to be even more valuable. She transformed our room with soft lighting and relaxation CDs, was extremely professional when working with the hospital staff, and continued to attend to our every need. When my wife's labor stalled at 4:00 am, after nearly 30 hours, St. Lukes called in our OBGYN from home and she recommended that my wife have an epidural. Because Amber knew that this was something my wife really did not want, she helped us come up with a less-invasive alternative that ultimately resulted in a more natural, healthy birth that was in line with our preferences. (The OB's suggestion of an epidural should in no way reflect negatively on St. Lukes, they knew our preference was for a natural child birth and did not suggest any drugs or interventions until labor stalled and they became concerned that my wife could be forced into a caesarian section due to maternal exhaustion--something they seek to avoid at all costs.)
While my wife's labor was clearly long and difficult, she and I both view it as very much of a positive experience, due in no small part to Amber's incredible presence throughout. I can confidently say that Amber made a huge difference in our birth story, and that it would have been much more difficult for us without her help.
If you are looking for a doula, I highly recommend choosing Amber. Words fail to do her justice, so meet her for a cup of tea to introduce yourself and get to know her, and you'll begin to get a sense of why she is the perfect partner to help with your baby's entry into the world. read more
